by Rex Wockner
Some 2,000 people turned out for the first large-scale gay pride parade in Kathmandu, Nepal, Aug. 25. Openly gay Member of Parliament Sunil Babu Pant led the procession, riding an elephant.
British Ambassador John Tucknott joined the march and U.S. Ambassador Scott DeLisi sent a message of solidarity. Tucknott told The Times of India, "It is about saying yes to embracing diversity."
In an e-mail interview, Pant said: "This festival is to be established as an international one, which it did from this year on. We had foreigners from 15 countries, including India, Japan, U.S., UK, Denmark, France, Norway and Australia, and we expect more international participants from next year on."
